Loyalty Traveler – August, 24 2009

Accor Hotels A|Club: Hilton, IHG and Marriott hotels are not everywhere you may need to be for international travel. Accor Hotels, one of the global top five hotel chains, has more hotels worldwide than Marriott or Hilton, and more hotels outside the U.S. than IHG.

Accor Hotels’ 4,000 properties far outnumber the branded hotels of any other major global chain in regions outside of North America. Brazil, for example, has 133 Accor brand hotels while IHG, Hilton and Marriott combined have 10 hotels.

Accor Hotels’ A-Club loyalty program represents over 2,100 hotels in eight brands. Sofitel, MGallery and Pullman are upscale brands. Novotel, Mercure and Suitehotel are midscale. Ibis and allseasons are in the economy segment. A loyalty program this large is too big to ignore; especially for the global traveler. Membership in A-Club is free.
LINK: www.insideflyer.com/link/?1753

A|Club base-level members earn two points per 1[euro], except one point per 1[euro] for Ibis and allseasons hotels. 2,000 A|Club points may be exchanged for a 40[euro] hotel certificate or US$60 certificate valid for unrestricted use at over 2,000 Accor hotels worldwide in Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, allseasons, Ibis and Accor Thalassa properties. Accor certificates are also valid for ClubMed resorts.

4,000 A|Club points may also be exchanged for 2,000 miles with several airline partners, but this exchange is less favorable than hotel stay rewards.

A|Club Elite status

A|Club elite status is earned by either total nights or reaching point thresholds in a 12-month period. All A|Club points earned count as elite points. Hotel spending, bonus points and partner activity all count for reaching elite status just as with IHG Priority Club Rewards.

The basic way to get more value out of A|Club is the same as with other major hotel loyalty programs–attain elite status and use loyalty promotions to increase the points earned per [euro] in spending. A Platinum member staying at a hotel during a triple points promotion can potentially earn eight points per 1[euro].

Accor and A|Club Promotions

Accor has experienced the same economic downturn as other major hotel chains. A myriad of summer promotions offered 50 percent off rates, 2x and 3x points and free nights on multi-night stays. Most of the summer promotions ended in August. Look for new loyalty promotions for September stays at www.insideflyer.com/link/?1755.

Accor Advantage Plus in Asia

Accor Advantage Plus is a loyalty program exclusively for residents of Asia with attributes of A|Club and Favorite Guest. A US$200 annual membership fee provides instant A|Club Silver elite status, a free night certificate, hotel rate discounts of 10 percent and hotel food and beverage discounts from 15 to 50 percent. A unique feature is a free supplementary card granting member hotel discounts to a partner. There are over 340 Accor hotels in the Asia-Pacific region including 50 Sofitel Hotels. Advantage Plus members may earn and redeem A|Club points worldwide.
LINK: www.insideflyer.com/link/?1756

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